had no desire to come face to face with whoever was responsible for all of that. She knew self-defence and she had a smart mouth, but this... It was out of her league.
Self-preservation battled with pride. Common sense eventually won out. She might hate Mitch, but not enough to endanger her own life. She could put up with him escorting her to wherever it was she needed to go. ‘When do we have to leave?’
‘Within the hour would be good.’
She bit back a sigh. ‘You said there were two officers coming? I’ll make up the bed in the spare room.’
‘Just leave the linen out. They can make up their own beds.’
Typical male.
Her hand clenched. There was nothing typical about Mitch King, and she’d do well not to forget it. ‘Then I guess I’ll just throw the rest of the wet things in the dryer, pack a bag and get changed.’
‘Tash, thank you.’ She must’ve looked blank because he added, ‘For being so reasonable about this.’
His gaze lowered to her fist. She unclenched it and pasted a fake smile to her face. ‘I’m no longer an overwrought teenager, Officer King. I have absolutely no desire to meet the person responsible for those awful things.’ She gestured to the photos. ‘But I can tell you now, you’re on the wrong trail if you think it’s Rick.’ And the sooner the police found that out the better.
He didn’t say anything for a long moment. ‘I suppose it’s too much to hope that you’ll call me Mitch?’
‘You suppose right.’
She stalked off, heart thumping.
‘You already have a suitcase packed. You won’t need to pack a separate bag.’
‘They’re holiday things.’ Swimsuits and shorts and bright T-shirts. If she was lucky she still might get away for a couple of days.
‘Which will all be fine,’ he called after her.
That sounded promising. She wondered if the NSW Police Force budget extended to putting her up in a nice resort somewhere on the North Coast. It’d mean her week wouldn’t be a complete loss.
She focused on that rather than the thought of spending the next few hours in Mitch’s company.
She wasn’t a teenager, she thought, lifting her chin. She was an adult woman with clear vision and hard-won wisdom. And she had Mitch’s measure now.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...
She shook her head. It wasn’t going to happen.
After switching the dryer on she shot into her bedroom and pulled her mobile phone from her pocket, flicked through her list of stored numbers until she came to Rick’s. She had to warn him of the welcome he could expect when he arrived in Sydney.
Mitch suddenly loomed in the doorway. Damn it! She hit delete and Rick’s number disappeared.
His eyes could knife a lesser person. ‘Were you trying to ring Bradford?’
‘I’m ringing Mandy next door and leaving a message on her answer machine to tell her I’m letting some out of town friends stay. You know what this place is like. If strangers suddenly show up without explanation there’ll be all sorts of alarms raised.’
He loomed in the doorway while she made the call. When she was done he held out his hand for the phone.
She lifted her chin and went to put it in her pocket instead.
‘Don’t test me on this, Tash.’
One glance at his face told her he’d take it by force if necessary. Steeling herself, she slapped it into his palm. ‘I can see the next few hours are going to be a whole barrel-load of laughs. Now, I’d like some privacy while I get dressed. Unless you mean to force your company on that head too.’
Without a word, he turned and stalked off. Tash had to sit down on the edge of her bed and breathe in for several long moments. She pushed herself upright again to pull on her usual armour of jeans, work boots and a black T-shirt.
* * *
It wasn’t until they were driving over the Sydney Harbour Bridge with its comprehensive view of the Opera House and harbour that Tash realised how completely she drew Mitch’s scent into her lungs. She stared out of the passenger window, barely noticing the colourful yachts below or the way the light glinted on the harbour in perfect summer exuberance.
Mitch’s scent hadn’t changed. Not one little bit. He still smelled of oranges and the tiniest hint of mint. Her lungs swelled to drink it in as if starved. With an abrupt movement she lowered the window, blasting her sinuses with warm summer air.
Mitch glanced at her briefly and she met his gaze just to prove she could. What she saw in their depths, though, shook her to her core. She understood the concern. She was a citizen at risk and he was the officer charged with protecting her. Her lips twisted. And she knew how seriously he took that duty.
But...regret?
Like him, she turned her gaze back to the front and tried to ignore the pounding of her heart.
‘You will be safe, Tash, I promise. This will all be over before you know it.’
She believed him. Still, the sooner he dropped her off at the ‘secret’ location and went on his merry way the better.
Another ten minutes of bone-stretching tension crawled by.
‘How is Rick doing?’
He spoke so softly she almost didn’t hear him. She wished she hadn’t.
Her fingers curved into talons. It took an effort of will not to bare her teeth at him like some wild thing. Eight years ago he’d taken from her not only her best friend, but also her self-esteem and her conviction that good trumped evil. She pushed a laugh out of her throat, but it was harsh and guttural. ‘Do you really think I’m naïve enough to discuss him with you again? Or perhaps you think him stupid enough to discuss his comings and goings with me?’
His knuckles whitened about the steering wheel. She dragged her gaze back to the front. She remembered those hands more than she remembered his eyes or his smile. She remembered how he’d held her hand in his and the way his thumb had rubbed back and forth across her wrist, making her blood quicken, making her wish he’d do so much more with those hands. She remembered how one of his fingers had trailed down her cheek, and how it had made her feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. She remembered how his hands had curved about her face the couple of times he’d kissed her, as if she were precious.
Precious? She’d been nothing more than a means to an end.
She could almost forgive him for arresting Rick. He was a police officer and it was his duty to uphold the law. And once he’d seen what was happening, Rick had made sure all the evidence had pointed to him. Rick had taken the blame and had sworn her to silence. She couldn’t blame Mitch for any of that. But she would never forgive him for using her to bring about that arrest, for lying to her, for betraying her so completely. For making her think he loved her. All in the line
